Dec 20, 2000
NBA BASKETBALL on
InsideHoops.com - - - - -
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Kobe, Shaq
and the Lakers:
Speculation
Time
By INSIDEHOOPS.COM
Reports recently came out stating that in an effort
to control Kobe Bryant's wild gunning ways, Shaquille O'Neal and teammates
have developed hand signals that help control when the ball is going to
reach Kobe and when it'll be kept away. The source of this was an unnamed
Western Conference player.
Shaq, as expected, denied this to be true.
We know that the entire team is aware of Kobe's
current monopoly of the ball and that sometimes they take it upon themselves
to wave him off and dump the ball inside to Shaq, but no one admits that
there's anything secret going on.
Kobe currently averages over 23 shots per game,
the most in the NBA. And while it's public knowledge that the Lakers have
some concerns about both Bryant's individual exploits and team-wide issues
on both ends of the floor, no one is too worried.
We at InsideHoops maintain the possibility that
this is merely an experiment. Kobe is busting out as a player, and this
is his time to learn how to dominate, even if it means forcing things.
Jackson knows that the regular season is just big warmup for the playoffs.
Home court advantage is obviously nice, but perhaps even nicer would be
having the NBA's two most dominant players, rather than just one or one
and a half. We've seen Kobe take shots in situations where teammates were
open at spots on the floor that we know Kobe can hit. Instead, he's still
shot the ball. Admittedly, he's tended to do that a large part of his career,
so that's nothing new, but perhaps Jackson's plan is to use the first half
of the season to help Kobe learn to dominate, the second half to help Isaiah
Rider and overall team chemistry, and the end of the season and playoffs
to put it all together.
We're making this theory up. It's based on nothing.
But, we like it enough to print it. Think it's ridiculous? Well who made
the rule that you have to try to win every single regular season game?
Why not use the regular season as a long training camp, aim to hit a stride
towards the season's end, and roll through the playoffs?
True, you can't just magically turn it on once
the playoffs arrive. But we know that Shaq as an individual can turn it
on, Kobe's learning how to as we speak, and assuming we're right, look
for Rider to become more of an offensive focal point in the second half
of the season.
Jackson is openly annoyed at Kobe sometimes, you
claim? Rifts are developing, you say? Perhaps this is a secret agreement
between Kobe, Shaq and Jackson. Or even just Kobe and Jackson. If anyone
could pull it off, they could.
Shaq should be in great shape for the playoffs
since he's doing less regular season work than expected.
On a negative note, this team's defense is lacking.
That needs genuine consistent work.
As for the team's offense and the Kobe situation,
lets see what happens in coming weeks and months.
InsideHoops
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